To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act with respect to infants born with and identified as being affected by substance use or withdrawal symptoms, Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and for other purposes.

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 879 To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act with respect to infants born with and identified as being affected by substance use or withdrawal symptoms, Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, or Fetal Alco- hol Spectrum Disorder, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 5, 2021 Ms. JAYAPAL (for herself and Mr. GUTHRIE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act with respect to infants born with and identified as being affected by substance use or withdrawal symptoms, Neo- natal Abstinence Syndrome, or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. GRANTS TO STATES. 3 Paragraph (2) of section 106(b) of the Child Abuse 4 Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106a(b)) is 5 amended— 6 (1) in subparagraph (B)— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H879.IH H879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 879 IH (A) by striking clauses (ii) and (iii); and 1 (B) by redesignating clauses (iv) through 2 (xxv) as clauses (ii) through (xxiii), respectively; 3 and 4 (2) in subparagraph (D)— 5 (A) by redesignating clauses (i) through 6 (vi) as clauses (iii) through (viii), respectively; 7 and 8 (B) by inserting before clause (iii), as so 9 redesignated: 10 ‘‘(i) policies and procedures (including 11 appropriate referrals to child welfare serv- 12 ice systems and for other appropriate serv- 13 ices (including home visiting services and 14 mutual support and parent partner pro- 15 grams) determined by a family assessment) 16 to address the needs of infants born with 17 and identified as being affected by sub- 18 stance use or withdrawal symptoms result- 19 ing from prenatal drug exposure, or a 20 Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, includ- 21 ing a requirement that health care pro- 22 viders involved in the delivery or care of 23 such infants notify the child protective wel- 24 fare service system of the occurrence of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H879.IH H879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 879 IH such condition in such infants, except 1 that— 2 ‘‘(I) child protective services shall 3 undertake an investigation only when 4 the findings of a family assessment 5 warrant such investigation; and 6 ‘‘(II) such notification shall not 7 be construed to— 8 ‘‘(aa) establish a definition 9 under Federal law of what con- 10 stitutes child abuse or neglect; or 11 ‘‘(bb) require prosecution for 12 any illegal action; 13 ‘‘(ii) the development of a multi-dis- 14 ciplinary plan of safe care for the infant 15 born and identified as being affected by 16 substance use or withdrawal symptoms or 17 a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder to en- 18 sure the safety and well-being of such in- 19 fant following release from the care of 20 health care providers, including through— 21 ‘‘(I) using a risk-based approach 22 to develop each plan of safe care; 23 ‘‘(II) addressing, through coordi- 24 nated service delivery, the health and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H879.IH H879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 879 IH substance use disorder treatment 1 needs of the infant and affected fam- 2 ily or caregiver as determined by a 3 family assessment; and 4 ‘‘(III) the development and im- 5 plementation by the State of moni- 6 toring systems regarding the imple- 7 mentation of such plans of safe care 8 to determine whether and in what 9 manner local entities are providing, in 10 accordance with State requirements, 11 referrals to and delivery of appro- 12 priate services for the infant and af- 13 fected family or caregiver;’’. 14 SEC. 2. GUIDANCE AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 15 Section 114(1) of the Child Abuse Prevention and 16 Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5108(1)) is amended— 17 (1) in each of subparagraphs (A) and (B), by 18 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 19 (2) by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(C) include written guidance and tech- 21 nical assistance to support States, which shall 22 include guidance on the requirements of this 23 Act with respect to infants born with and iden- 24 tified as being affected by substance use or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H879.IH H879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 879 IH withdrawal symptoms, Neonatal Abstinence 1 Syndrome, or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, 2 as described in clauses (i) and (ii) of section 3 106(b)(2)(D), including by— 4 ‘‘(i) enhancing States’ understanding 5 of requirements and flexibilities under the 6 law, including by clarifying key terms; 7 ‘‘(ii) addressing State-identified chal- 8 lenges with developing, implementing, and 9 monitoring plans of safe care; and 10 ‘‘(iii) disseminating best practices on 11 implementation of plans of safe care, on 12 such topics as differential response, col- 13 laboration and coordination, and identifica- 14 tion and delivery of services for different 15 populations, while recognizing needs of dif- 16 ferent populations and varying community 17 approaches across States; and 18 ‘‘(D) include the submission of a report to 19 the Committee on Education and Labor of the 20 House of Representatives and the Committee 21 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 22 the Senate not later than 1 year after the date 23 of the enactment of this Act that contains a de- 24 scription of the activities taken by the Secretary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H879.IH H879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 879 IH to comply with the requirements of subpara- 1 graph (C); and’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H879.IH H879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS